Okami: Child of the Sun
by Spartan A13
Summary: Ashitaka was your average Seinor in Highschool. But a Mysterious girl shows up at his school one day looking for him. What does she want with the son of the Priest of Amatarasau's shrine? Rating WILL go up in later chapters. Now includes a character inser
1. The New Student

_I've canceled my PMD story because it was too bland, so I wrote this instead. Enjoy!_

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_My name is Ashitaka Mitsirugi. I'm a senior in High School and I'm basically your average 18 year old. Well, not so average. My family comes from a long line of priests that tend to the shrine of the sun goddess Shiranui Amatarasu. The shrine itself is just a statue of a wolf with markings covering most of its body and a tail that looked vaguely like a paint brush. Why the goddess of the sun took the form of a creature that howls at the moon is a question that I'll never find the answer to. Besides the shrine keeping, I lived a normal life. Then one day my life suddenly took a huge turn when I met a new student…_

Ashitaka stepped off of the train, his white hair gently flapping in the morning breeze.

"Beautiful Day." He muttered while stepping off of the platform and on to the side walk. School was only a few blocks away from his location, it still towered above the other nearby buildings like an imposing fortress. Ashitaka always hated this be cause the imposing aura of the school made him feel small and helpless, like the jocks that unanimously referred to him as "Shrine Boy". After passing several blocks, he reached school just as the busses started to arrive. Off of the first bus came Ashitaka's childhood friend, Kutarugi.

"Hey Kutarugi." Ashitaka called out as he ran over to his friend

"Yo Ashitaka" Kutarugi greeted his friend "Did ya hear the news?"

"News? No, what's up?" Ashitaka asked with interest. Kutarugi's answer, however, was unexpected.

"Some new student chick." Kutarugi replied. "Her name's Kimiri." Ashitaka glared at his friend. "Dude, no way. Last time you hooked me up with a girl, I had to wear a cast for a week!" he snapped.

"It's not that, she's looking for you." Kutarugi calmly shot back.

"Excuse me?" Asked a surprised Ashitaka

"She was on my bus and asked me specifically if you came to this school." Kutarugi gave his trademark _'You're not telling me everything.' _look accompanied by a smirk. "Have you been getting busy with a lady without telling me?" he made a motion with his fingers to emphasize his meaning. Ashitaka went red with shock and embarrassment.

"What? No, I've never even heard of her until now!" he spat back, he was pretty sure he had never met her, and his memory was sharper than a knife. He pondered this as he walked to his locker, opened it and placed his backpack into it. He asked a few more students if they knew anything about her, all they knew was that she was looking for him. One guy even glared at him, saying that he'd court her before Ashitaka could do anything. The bastard was jealous of him because Ashitaka, who had a record of not being smooth with the ladies, would have someone who'd be looking for him. When he got to class he sat down in his usual seat by the window. He stared off into space until his teacher's voice woke him up from his spacing.

"Class, be seated. We have a new student today." Mr. Hiroshi announced, waiting for every one to take a seat before he spoke up again. "I'd like you all to welcome Kimiri." The classroom door opened, and Ashitaka's eyes widened at what he saw. Kimiri was dressed in the normal female school uniform, but she looked out of place even with it on. Long ruby red hair draped down to her posterior, her eyebrows the same color. Her face had a pointed feline look to it. Her chest was "well equipped" and Kutarugi whispered to Ashitaka, "DUDE! She's a friggin' C cup!" Kimiri's curved form drew the eyes of half the boys in the class. The rest were gazing at her with their mouths wide open. Mr. Hiroshi seemed to be the only male unaffected by Kimiri's looks.

"Class, it's impolite to stare at new students. Now please turn to page 90 in your text books." Mr. Hiroshi turned to Kimiri. "Kimiri, if you would, please take a seat." Kimiri nodded and walked over to the empty seat next to Ashitaka. A disappointed groan sounded from the other side of the class. Ashitaka couldn't help but glance at Kimiri, this girl was looking for him? She glanced at him and wrote something on a scrap of paper and tossed it over to Ashitaka. He caught it and quickly placed it down as Mr. Hiroshi turned to face the class to ask if anyone had any questions about the lesson. When he returned to the white board, Ashitaka took a look at the note.

_Ashitaka,_

_Meet me on the roof after school; do not bring anyone with you. Not even Kutarugi._

_-Kimiri _

Ashitaka looked up to Kimiri. Just as he was about to ask who she was, Mr. Hiroshi told him to pay attention.

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The day went by as usual, except for a couple things. Kimiri was in every class that Ashitaka took, and in every class at least one guy asked her out. And every time she politely declined. Eighth period was a different story, however. Apparently Kutarugi had the balls to ask Kimiri for a date, but she declined him with a swift kick to the shins. Ashitaka had to hold his mouth shut to prevent him from laughing when that happened. The moment the last bell of the day rang Ashitaka sighed, the day had ended and the weekend had started. However, he saw Kimiri standing over by the doorway. She jerked her head towards the door, the universal sign for 'Follow me'. Ashitaka then realized she had wanted him to meet her on the roof. Picking up his bas he followed her down the hall. As they passed through he noticed that people were whispering about him. He caught little snippets of conversations like "Oh my god, Ashi's got a girlfriend." from a group of girls, "Lucky S.O.B." from a guy and he could sworn he heard an "I'll kill you Mitsirugi!" After climbing the stairs to the roof Ashitaka walked out the door and on to the roof. A small _click_ noise behind him told him that Kimiri had looked the door.

"Alright, what do you want?!" Ashitaka demanded; he wanted answers now. Kimiri turned to face him, and he noticed that her eyes were starting to tear up. "Eep! I'm sorry!" Ashitaka started to apologize, but Kimiri ran to him and threw her arms around him.

"Ashitaka! Oh how I've missed you!" She exclaimed in joy, catching Ashitaka off guard. After a second of shock, he suddenly realized that he had never even remembered meeting Kimiri at all before today.

"Ummm, sorry but I think you have the wrong guy." He told Kimiri, gently pulling her off of him. Kimiri looked at Ashitaka quizzically, like he had told a joke she didn't get.

"Are you not Ashitaka Mitsirugi?" she asked in a cute and unsure voice.

"I am, but…" Ashitaka started to stay, but Kimiri smacked her face with an open hand.

"Damn it, DAMN IT! I came a day early!" she started spouting out "Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!!" This sudden reaction from Kimiri started to scare Ashitaka. He was trapped on the school roof with a possibly psychotic girl. This fact made him really uncomfortable.

"Um, what are you talking about…" he started to say, but Kimiri hushed him by placing a finger on his lips.

"No time, tomorrow go to the location on this map and be there by ten o'clock." And with that, Kimiri unlocked the door and disappeared down the stairs, leaving Ashitaka alone.

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On the train ride home, Ashitaka began to ponder about what Kimiri had told him.

'_Why would she want me to go to the edge of town?' _He thought, while looking at the map. _'She might be trying to kill me by throwing me off of the cliff! No, that doesn't work, she was so happy to see me. Maybe she wants to 'get it on' and then throw me off the cliff! No, those were real tears.'_ No matter what scenario Ashitaka thought of, nothing seemed to fit. A talk with Kutarugi over the phone on the walk home yielded no answers, only a perverted comment from his friend. At dinner, he asked his parents if they had pulled any engagement strings behind his back, but his parents denied doing anything like that. He even prayed at Amatarasu's shrine for answers, something he rarely did, but the answers still did not come. The question hounded him even as he went to bed. _'WHO IS SHE?!' _he cried in his head, before passing out on the bed.

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Tokyo is always loud at night, its Japan's own 'city that never sleeps. However, amid the sounds of the city, a rather unfamiliar sound stood out from the usually city sounds if someone listened well enough. It sounded like faint mewling, as if a kitten had lost its mother and was crying for comfort. If someone followed that noise, it would lead them out of town and to some cliffs about a half of a mile out of town. And when they've found the source of the noise, they would be treated to an astonishing sight. A young lady was making the cat like mewls. But even more astonishing was the cat ears that protruded from her head, and a tail sticking out of her rump. She was sobbing into her arms, like she had been heartbroken. And if someone was quiet enough, they would hear her saying,

"How could you forget, Ashitaka? How?".

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Enjoy the story so far? Then REVEIW!


	2. Where am I?

_Sorry about the late update people, I have a tendancy to procrastinate. Plus, I had to rewrite this chapter THRICE till I was satisfied._

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Ashitaka woke up the next morning much earlier than usual, but couldn't explain why. Yawning, he got up out of bed and dressed in his Saturday attire, which consisted of jeans and a T-Shirt. As he Walked down the stairs to the kitchen, yesterday's events came rushing back to him. Kimiri, the edge of town, ten o'clock. He looked up at the clock, it read nine o'clock. Nine o'clock?!

"SHIT! I'm gonna be late!" Ashitaka exclaimed. He quickly grabbed his shoes and hopped into them.

"And where do you think you're going?" Ashitaka froze, his mother's voice shot through the air like daggers.

"Mom! Eh-heh, umm, well to be honest, there's this girl at school, and she wanted me to meet her outside of…" he was cut off when his mother suddenly cheered.

"Oh! My young boy finally has a girlfriend. Go on ahead, I won't stop you." Ashitaka walked out the door, still amazed that his mom had been so easily convinced to let him leave town. He went out the front door and down the steps to the street. Suddenly Kutarugi came into sight, heading in Ashitaka's direction.

"Hey Ashitaka, what's up?" he called out, but Ashitaka hollered back

"Can't talk, I have a date!" He waved down a cab and got in it, leaving Kutarugi with an awe-struck look on his face.

"Where to kid?" the cabbie asked.

"The edge of town." Ashitaka answered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The outskirts of town were a very rural area. Only a couple houses dotted the surrounding forest area, and they belonged to elder citizens. Ashitaka enjoyed the walks he took along this road, the dirt paths felt much softer than the concrete roads of the city. He looked at his watch; he had ten minuets to get to where he needed to be. He started running further down the trail and finally came close to where he was suppose to meet Kimiri, but she wasn't in sight at all.

'_Where is she?'_ He pondered _'She cries about me not remembering something, something that may not have happened, and now she skips out on me!'_ Ashitaka pouted angrily in his head. He was busy being angry that he didn't notice something laying in the middle of the road until he tripped over it. With a cry he face planted onto the dirt path.

"Owwww," Ashitaka groaned. Regaining his composure, he pushed himself up and spat out the dirt in his mouth. Looking to the ground he saw what appeared to be a very large bag, just lying there in the middle of the road. "Who'd leave this just lying here?" he picked the bag up, it felt full of clothes and metal. As he shook it, a piece of paper fell from the top, catching Ashitaka's eyes. Placing the bag at his feet, he snatched up the note and looked at it. Almost at once he recognized the writing style of Kimiri, rough and moderately legible. It read…

_Ashitaka_

_I know this sounds silly, but you need to stand exactly where you are right now. Don't move even if the cliffside begins to crumble. Here's also some major information that will be useful later. If you have no idea where you are, seek the advice of Priestess Kyrie, when you need a weapon, pray to Amatarasu, and above all, do NOT listen to Ishiro's advice._

_Love, Kimiri ~ ~_

Ashitaka read the note twice, why did Kimiri want him to stand still? The bit about the mountain crumbling scared him a bit, but it seemed unlikely. His biggest question was who were Kyrie and Ishiro? Just a few questions to add to the mounting pile he already had. His watch suddenly beeped its hourly beep, he looked at it. It read 10:00 am.

Suddenly, a rumbling noise sounded right bellow Ashitaka, as if the cliff was crumbling.

Boy was he wrong.

A dark shape reached and snagged Ashitaka, picking him up and dragged him over the cliff. He screamed a wordless scream of terror, trying to fight the monster that had him in a vice grip. Then, a deep dark voice rang out.

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA! At long last I've found you, O' child of Amatarasu!" it laughed, clutching Ashitaka even tighter. "Long have you evaded my grasp, but now I've found you!" Ashitaka gasped in pain, the shadowed hand was crushing him. He never felt such pain and despair. The world around his was darker than night, and Ashitaka looked for even the tiniest speck of light. But he saw none, just pure blackness and that evil laughter ringing in his ear. The monstrous hand continued to crush him, apparently thriving in the darkness. That's when a bright light pierced the darkness, causing the shadowed hand to cry out in agony. It released Ashitaka, who suddenly found himself falling down into the abyss. Before he lost sight of the spectacle, Ashitaka caught a glimpse of his savior, a white wolf that had latched itself onto the hand and was ferociously biting it and… slashing it with a large golden glaive that sparked with lightning? The bizarre sight stayed with him until everything went black.

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Something was hopping around on Ashitaka's face causing him to wake up. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a cat staring at him right in the face.

"AH!" he screamed, frightening the cat as well and causing it to scurry away. Ashitaka sat up and panted, he was alive. At least, he thought he was. To check, he pinched himself, the pain brought him to his senses. He was indeed alive. He shook his head once more to clear his vision, and was greeted with a large cliff wall with a sloping path pointing away from the cliff wall. That was definitely not the same cliff that he fell off earlier, this one was much shorter.

"Where the hell am I!?" he shouted aloud. Looking around franticly he came across an even freakier sight. A lake that had to be about a mile wide stood behind him. But it wasn't the lake that caught his attention, rather his reflection. His entire body was covered by white fur; his eyes were those of a cat's but deep ruby in color, and at the top of his head stood two white cat ears. He then felt something poke at the back of his pants, and he froze in shock. Quickly, he undid his pants and pulled them of, and, much to his shock, a tail had sprouted from his rump. He recognized these features all too well from the numerous manga he had read. He had turned into a Half-cat, half-Human, better know as a Neko. After a minuet of staring in shock, he screamed. The scream echoed over the cliff wall, scaring a pair of grazing horses and causing them to gallop away. Crawling into the fetal position with a crazed look on his face, Ashitaka asked himself,

"Heh-heh, it's impossible, right?" He looked back into the water and was greeted by the same sight, causing him once again to scream after a second of silence. He started running around in circles screaming his head off, until he tripped over the same bag he had found at the cliff's edge. Picking himself up once again, Ashitaka looked at the bag quizzically. Had it fallen with him to this strange place? Quickly uniting the little string, the bag fell open, reviling it contents. A katasode uwagi with red flames on the sleeve and the bottom spilled out first. Next were two black yotekko gloves with blue strings wrapped around each one, along with two white yotabi socks that had red strings wrapped around each one. A scarlet metal chest plate bordered with golden metal lay atop of the clothes. Ashitaka scratched his head in wonder, why had Kimiri placed this bag at the cliff in the first place? He played with a few ideas in his head, but only one really seemed to make any sense. Kimiri must have known that that Giant hand that grabbed him earlier would have grabbed Ashitaka, so she placed the bag at that exact location! Ashitaka clenched his fist, if she did, he'd… A sudden breeze caused Ashitaka to shiver; he remembered he took off his pants because of the tail. Looking back down at the clothes, he sighed, and took of his shirt.

Ten minuets later, Ashitaka was suited up. The katasode uwagi was rather comfortable, but he had to fashion some pants from the bag as it didn't cover his underpants on one side. Itchy as hell, but he didn't want to look indecent, wherever he was. Looking up the path on the cliff, he started walking up, not sure what to expect.

'_What ever might be up there, it can't be weirder than me turning into a neko.' _Ashitaka thought to himself. When he reached the top, he was greeted with a beautiful sight. A large field was spread out before him; in the center of it laid a large sakura cherry blossom tree that had a shrine next to it. To Ashitaka's right, a building resembling a dojo stood proudly among the many training dummies that surrounded it. The field was surrounded by a ring of cliffs, almost as if the field had sunk into the earth, but stayed intact.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Ashitaka said to himself, referencing an old classical movie. After taking in all of the sights around him, Ashitaka walked down the path the sided along the inner cliff side. The path split into a fork, one pointing towards the dojo, the other leading down to the field. Ashitaka assumed that someone in the dojo could tell him where in the world he was. Walking by the training dummies, he took notice of their shape, they weren't human shaped. He stopped walking and took a closer look at them, they all appeared to have horns, were slightly shorter than the normal training dummy, and they all had paper slips tied to their heads.

"Enjoying my handy work?" a little scratchy voice suddenly asked. Ashitaka jumped, his fur standing on end as he also let out a cat like screech. Turning around, he saw a little old man dressed in kendo robes and using a bamboo shinai as a walking cane. "Now there's no need to be alarmed, I'm just the old man who runs this dojo." The old man let out a bit of boisterous yet quiet laughter.

"Err, yeah…." Ashitaka replied. "I'm kinda lost; could you tell me where I am?" Ashitaka chuckled nervously; the old man had snuck up on him. _'At least I'll get some answers.'_ He thought to himself.

"Lost are you? Well, since you're wondering, you're in Shinshu Field, in the northern area of Nippon." The old man replied. Ashitaka stared at the old man, surely he couldn't be serious? "You seem unsure if I'm telling the truth, but I assure you I am not. A kendo master like me never lies." The old man answered, pointing his shinai in the air with pride. Ashitaka's jaw dropped like a lead weight. After a moment of silence he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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The Dojo master is to awsome to be left out. So I had him be the first guy that Ashitaka met.

What will happen to Ashitaka! Will Kimiri make a show to explain the whole situation to Ashitaka? Why am I asking these questions when I already know what I want to happen?!

Ashitaka: Also, don't forget to review!

Me: What he said!


	3. Author's note

Okay, this popped into my head as I was typing chapter three. Seeing as I haven't gotten a lot of reviews, I had to draw attention to the story. By drawing attention I mean this.

I am short on characters in the Ponacle department and I'm going to allow people to make their own Ponacle to put in my story. Just fill out the following form.

**Name:**

**Age: **(Ponacles most likely have a life span of over 100 years. Just look at Ishaku)

**Gender: **

**Description: **(What's the color of their clothes and hat? What bug does their hat represent?)

**Background info: **(Just give a little info about your character)

There's also a few rules:

1) **Detail, detail, detail!** The more detail I have of your character, the better. It's just easier to write about someone or something when you have a lot of info.

2) I'm not going to take characters that are too similar to one from another television show.

3) No Mary-Sues/Gary-Stews!

Now this won't be first come first serve. I'll only accept characters that are interesting, in my opinion. There are 8 spots open, so sign up.


	4. A Neko and his Ponacle

Ishiro cut through the grass, sighing. Why hadn't he hitched on to that cat that had passed by earlier? The pint sized Ponacle adjusted his large, blue, half-oval hat to shield his face from the sun.

"Great job Ishiro! First you fall about ten feet from a cliff, which is about 60,000 feet for some one your size, land in a pond, barely avoid being eaten by a duck, and now you're cutting through a forest of grass to Amatarasu knows where!" he screamed. He continued to cut through the grass, his anger at his own stupidity fueling his movements. Just as he was about to swing his sword once more, an enormous scream ripped through the air like a thunder bolt. Dropping his sword, Ishiro covered his tiny ears and winced in pain. The scream was unbearable; it tore through the air and caused a flock of sparrows near Ishiro to take flight.

'_WHAT IS THAT HORRIBLE NOISE!?' _he screamed in his head.

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Ashitaka continued to scream at the top of his lungs. But a sudden jab to his stomach from the old man's shinai practice sword silenced him.

"Must you scream like that, child? You scream as if it's the end of the world." The old man asked. Taking in a raspy breath after having the wind knocked out of him, Ashitaka spoke his situation.

"Look, I was dragged off of a cliff by some giant hand, rescued by some white wolf, find that I have been turned into…this…" He gestured and his ears and tail "And know I'm in some unknown place that I've never…" A sharp pain in his shin cut him off midsentence. The old man had struck him with his practice sword, and although he didn't look like it, he seemed quite irritated.

"Must you complain? It's not like you're dead." The old man then bowed "Any who, allow me to introduce myself, I am Onigiri-Sensei, owner of this dojo." He looked at Ashitaka, as if expecting an answer.

"Err; my name is Ashitaka Mitsirugi, Son of Hyasso Mitsirugi." Ashitaka answered rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Glad to meet you Onigiri-Sensei." He bowed in respect. Onigiri-sensei returned the gesture.

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Ishiro uncovered his ears, the screaming had stopped.

"*sigh* Glad that's over." He sat down, taking off his hat, the stag beetle pincers on them dug into the ground. "Just what was that noise?" scratching his head in head in wonder, an old memory popped into his head.

_***FLASHBACK***_

"Ishiro?! Ishiro?!" the voice called. It caused Ishiro to jump. He threw some snow over the tiny fire he made and dove into a snow drift behind him. _'How did she get here so quick?!" _he screamed in his head. Keeping himself concealed, he looked around in the air for anything out of the ordinary. Sure enough, a ball of light flashed in the sky, moving fast, almost as if it was trying to catch something. It was a firefly, and on its back in some sort of saddle sat a ponacle dressed in red with a hat that looked like the firefly she road on. Ishiro slapped himself, _'Oh damn it! I completely forgot about Hotaru's firefly!' _

"Ishiro, where are you!?" Hotaru called out. "Ohhh, Issun is not going to like this…" Hotaru yanked on her firefly's reins and flew back the way she came. Ishiro breathed a sigh of relief, she hadn't found him.

_***END FLASHBACK***_

A loud *CRASH* awoke Ishiro from his trip down memory lane. Another one followed soon after. He picked up his hat, put it on and drew his sword, looking around frantically. Was it a demon? An Earthquake? As Ishiro looked around, a shadow loomed over him. He turned around and looked up; a huge foot loomed above him.

"… CRAP!" Ishiro stabbed his sword upwards as the foot came down.

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Ashitaka walked away from Onigiri-Sensei's dojo, the old man had told him that if he wanted answers, he'd need to go to the shrine in the center of the field by the sakura tree or "Guardian Sapling" as he called it. It wasn't far, only a ten minuets walk away from the dojo.

"Ouch!" Suddenly Ashitaka felt something stab his foot, felt like a needle. Lifting his foot up, he was greeted to what appeared to be a tiny blue glowing orb hanging on a tiny sword that was embedded in his foot. "What in the world?" He grasped the little ball of light and pulled out the sword. The little creature began to squirm and struggle as Ashitaka got a closer look at it. It was dressed in a blue tunic with a black cape adorned on its shoulders. A blue hat with beetle pincers rested on its head. Suddenly it spoke.

"Hey! Let me go!" it screamed in a clearly male voice. "And give me back my sword!" the bug sized person began beating Ashitaka's hand in an attempt to free itself.

"Ummmmmm, what are you doing?" He asked the bug sized person. "And what are you?" The little bug looked up at him and replied.

"Let me go and give me back my sword, and we'll talk." Ashitaka obliged and handed the tiny sword to its owner, then placed him on his arm. The tiny creature spoke as it dusted its arms off. "I'm Ishiro, wandering art…err traveler. I'm a ponacle." Ishiro took off his large hat and bowed in greeting. The name sounded familiar to Ashitaka, he was sure he read it somewhere before. He decided to ponder about it later as he introduced himself.

"I'm Ashitaka." he replied, "Nice to meet you Ishiro." Ashitaka extended his finger and Ishiro shook it as it they had shaken hands. "I've never seen someone as small as you." Ashitaka whispered to himself, but to Ishiro, it's like he said it aloud.

"And you're rather big for someone my size!" Ishiro snapped back, apparently thinking Ashitaka had insulted him, the blue light surrounding him turning a light shade of red, possibly indicating he was angry.

"Whoa, calm down! I wasn't insulting you, I've just never met a bug that looks like a tiny human and can talk." Ashitaka stated. But when the word _bug_ left his lips, Ishiro's aura went red again, he was definitely angry.

"I AM NOT A BUG! I'M A PONACLE!" Ishiro screamed as he bounced up and down like a bouncy ball dog toy. Ashitaka clasped his hand over Ishiro in an attempt to shut him up, which actually worked. Ishiro had stooped shouting when he lifted his hand, although the aura surrounding him was still slightly red.

"That was very rude you know." Ishiro said as his aura dimmed back to its original blue color. "So, Ashitaka, mind if I hitch a ride?" Before Ashitaka could answer, the little ponacle leaped into his hair, giving it a very light blue color. He felt Ishiro shift around and lie down in the forest of his hair.

"Hey! Who said you could hide up in there!?" Ashitaka exclaimed scratching his head at the same time in an attempt to remove the ponacle from his hair. However, several stabbing pains hit him near his scalp; Ishiro had stabbed him with his sword.

"The next time you try to scratch me out of your hair, I'll stab deeper." Ishiro threatened. Ashitaka sighed; he might as well let the little guy ride along. Besides, he didn't want his head full of tiny holes.

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Ashitaka's Journal: 2 hours after arrival in Nippon

_And that's when I met Ishiro. The pint sized ponacle with a tendency for being lazy. Still, having company in a strange world like the one I was in at them time was welcomed. Besides, sometimes great heroes come in small sizes. After arriving at the shrine in the middle of the field, which Ishiro said was called Shinshu field, I was introduced to the Shrine Priestess. Her name was Kyrie Mitsirugi. Her last name intrigued me, as it was the same as mine. The fact that the shrine is also dedicated to Amatarasu is also intriguing. I'll investigate it later…_

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Ashitaka closed the little notebook and placed it in a pocket on the side of his yotabi. Standing up, he walked over to where the Priestess was praying to a statue of Amatarasu and sat next to her. After a moment of silence, she spoke

"Your tale is one of great uncertainty, but it is believable." she said "And many strange things have been happening here as well, so your arrival is also a blessing." Ashitaka looked at the Priestess.

"Strange things? What do you mean?" he asked as she stood up. Priestess Kyrie began walking out of the room and Ashitaka followed. When they reached outside, she spoke again.

"About a week ago, demons began showing up here at night." She explained "It was the first time in 10 years that they decided to show their faces again." Ashitaka looked stunned; he thought demons were a thing of myth that were told as bed time stories to get children to behave.

"I'm sorry, did you say demons?" he asked, his voice laced with uncertainty. The Priestess looked at him solemnly before answering.

"Yes, I lost five brave men to the last raid." She looked at the sky to see the sun setting. "Quickly, we must get back inside before the moon shines, which is when they hunt." As she walked back inside, Ashitaka just stood there, comprehending what he just heard. Men had died fighting to defend this shrine, should he try do defend it as he was the son of a Priest of Amatarasu? He remembered what his father had said once…

"Amatarasu is counting on you to defend this shrine with your life son." Ashitaka repeated his father's words, and decided. He was going to stand and fight. As the guards were passing by to leave the shrine and defend it, he walked up to the leader of the group.

"I want to help." He said "I may not be a master, but I can use a sword." The leader looked at Ashitaka before taking on of the katana off of his back and handing it to Ashitaka.

"Be careful, demons have no morals. They will not let you recover if you are down." The guard said. Ashitaka gulped.

The sun had set by the time Ashitaka and the guards had taken up defensive positions around the shrine's entrance. Ashitaka was sitting alone a few feet from the rest of the guards as he looked at a scroll that another guard had given him to show what demons they would be up against. It was a rather empty scroll with only one picture, the picture of an imp dressed in green, its face covered by a slip of paper. The guard had called them "Green Imps". As Ashitaka continued to read he suddenly felt Ishiro shift around in his hair.

"*YAWN* Hey Ashitaka, what are you reading?" the ponacle asked tiredly. Ashitaka felt him shift and stand up.

"A scroll on monsters, I'm defending the shrine along side the guards from a demons attack." The human turned neko replied calmly, despite the fact that he may face his morality today. Ashitaka closed the scroll and put it in the same pocket he had placed his journal.

"*YAWN* Okay then… let me know how it goes." Ashitaka felt Ishiro lie down again. A second later, he suddenly felt Ishiro leap out of his hair and bounce around furiously in front of him. "WHAT?! Demons are going to be HERE?" Ashitaka nodded in response. Ishiro's bouncing suddenly got more wild and erratic. "You're going to get killed! Doesn't that bother you at all!?" Ashitaka, sick of Ishiro's whining, snagged the little ponacle by his cape with his index finger and thump. Bringing him up to eye level he spoke with authority

"It is my duty as son of the Priest of Amatarasu's Shrine that I defend this blessed place, WITH MY LIFE!" Ishiro trembled as Ashitaka spoke "If you are afraid, you can go on and run like the bug you are, but I'm going to stand, and FIGHT!" Ashitaka put Ishiro down, and was surprised to see the ponacle's aura turn scarlet.

"NEVER, EVER CALL ME A COWARDLY BUG!" Ishiro screamed; his tiny voice audible only to Ashitaka "I'll prove you wrong by staying here!" Before Ashitaka could answer, one of the guards shouted. Ashitaka looked up and saw them. The "Green Imps" he saw in the monster scroll. They looked exactly like the ones in the picture, but these ones carried bamboo shoots. It was a group of about fifty imps in total. Ashitaka drew the katana he had been given earlier and held it unsteadily. The odds were against him and the guards, they were outnumbered five to one. The demons were moving closer at an increasing rate of speed, Ashitaka could now hear the little screeches that they were making. Screeches of delight and bloodlust. The guards then suddenly bellowed a fierce battle cry and charged; Ashitaka followed suit a moment later.

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Ashitaka had never thought he would have to take a life while he was alive, but these demons were attacking him with the intent of killing him and he had to defend himself. His katana swung swiftly, striking the arm of an imp that got to close and removing it from its owner. Ashitaka silenced its pain ridden screams with a stab to the throat, turning its cries to sickening gurgling noises. Black demon blood remained on his blade when he withdrew it. Turning about, he smote two imps that had ganged up on one of the guards with a single slash. Helping the man to his feet, Ashitaka asked the guard if he was alright, to which the guard answered that he was fine before returning to the battle.

"Damn it! There's too many of them!" Ishiro who had leaped from Ashitaka's head and was blinding the imps by stabbing their eyes with his small sword, cried. Ashitaka punched an imp in the face before decapitating it.

"There may be, but they aren't fighting like the guards said they would." A sudden scream caught Ashitaka's attention; it had come from the shrine! Turning around, he saw that the gates had been blasted apart and imps were pouring in.

"Ashitaka, go protect the priestess!" the lead guard yelled, "We can hold our own against these monstrosities!" Heeding the man's advice, Ashitaka sprinted back to the shrine, beheading an imp that had stood to guard the entrance.

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Priestess Kyrie stared in horror as demons slaughtered her handmaidens, their claws red with blood. There had been a second group that had snuck in while the guards had been busy with the first group of demons. She had to defend herself. Taking out three exorcism slips, she hurled them at the imps. Three were vaporized instantly from the holy energy, but as she was about to reach for another slip, two black spines pinned the sleeves to the wall, effectively immobilizing her. She looked back up and saw two new demons. A pair of purple black wolves glared at her with piercing blood red eyes. From their back protruded fierce pointed spines, similar to the ones that had pinned her arms to the wall. They advanced on her, their eyes filled with blood lust, and the priestess felt fear tear through her. Suddenly they lunged at her, and she braced herself from the cold hand of death to reach out and strangle her. Instead of that, however, she heard a yelp of pain come from one of the wolf monsters. She opened her eyes and saw Ashitaka yanking his sword from the neck of one of the wolf demons.

"Priestess, run!" he cried as he raised his sword to diffuse the remaining demons, only to be struck from the side and tackled through the paper door by the remaining Wolf demon. Before she could cry out, she suddenly felt the spines that pinned her Yutaka to the wall loosen. She looked at her sleeves and saw a blue speck of light. A Ponacle?

"You heard him! Run!" Ishiro cried.

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Ashitaka grasped the snapping jaws of the wolf demon to prevent it from tearing out his throat.

'_Damn, this beast is tough!' _he though to himself, before kicking the wolf demon's belly, knocking it away with a yelp. As Ashitaka grabbed his katana, the demon came rushing at him again. He held up the katana in defense, but when the wolf demon's claws made contact with it, a loud shattering noise sounded. Ashitaka felt pain stab across his face as he crashed against the wall. He reached up to feel his face, and at once, he felt blood and metal shards. Not only had the demon broken his blade, embedding several shards of it in his face, but its claws had grazed his face, leaving a trio of shallow claw marks on his face. Looking back at the demon, he saw its tongue lash across its claws, lapping up HIS blood. Its eyes were filled with a new blood lust, a lust for Ashitaka's blood. Ashitaka stood back up, placing his hand against a circular piece of stone on the wall to support him. As his vision blurred, he saw the wolf demon leap with a howl, and sudden warmth flared across his right hand. Then, as he blacked out, the last sound he heard were the pained and agonizing cries of the demon.


	5. Authors Note 2

Hey readers! Despite popular belief I am not dead, and neither is Okami:CotS! I've just been a little busy rewriting Chapter 4; it's taking longer than I hoped. Never fear, I'll do my best to get the next chapter done quickly!

I may get a little more motivated to finish if I get a few more reviews.


	6. but your eyes just went all freaky”

/ANNNNNNNDDDDD I'm BACK!/

Sorry bout the long wait, stupid writers block.

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A sudden jolt of pain on his face woke Ashitaka up with a start. His eyes shot open as he gritted his teeth, doing his best not to scream.

"Oh good, you're awake." A voice spoke in a gentle tone. Ashitaka blinked furiously to clear his blurred vision, but no matter how hard he blinked, his vision didn't clear. "No need to worry, the herbal extract I gave you to numb the pain as I removed those shards of metal does cause a slight blurring of the vision. It should wear off now." Sure enough, as the voice finished speaking, Ashitaka's vision cleared and he managed to see the room he was in as he sat up. A guard was cleaning up the black demon blood from the wolf demon Ashitaka had slain, the paper door had been repaired, and all signs of damage from his scuffle with the demons had vanished.

"Ugghh, my head, what happened." Ashitaka asked aloud "I feel like my head just went through a gravel crusher." He looked up at the person who had been taking care of him, and was surprised to see Onigiri-Sensei. The old dojo owner was cleaning his hands off in a small basin, while chuckling at Ashitaka's shocked expression. The old man took his hands out of the basin, dried them on a cloth before grabbing his shinai practice sword.

"The priestess told me about your courage last night, how you fought off the demons without backing down." Onigiri-Sensei said, seeming impressed "But they never told me how you obliterated that last demon, but I can now see how." Ashitaka looked confused; all he remembered was blacking out and the pained yelp of the wolf demon.

"I'm sorry, but I don't recall any of that." He answered, but Onigiri-Sensei handed a mirror to him.

"See for yourself, you'll be even more shocked than when I told you where you were when we first met." Ashitaka looked into the mirror, and gasped. On his face lay scarlet markings, an O with a point pointed downwards on his forehead, a curling shape that looked like a blowing breeze shone on each cheek. He looked down at his chest and arms and sure enough, scarlet markings covered them too. As he looked at his face in the mirror again, he saw something poking over his shoulder. It looked like… fire!

"OHMYGODI'MONFIRE!!" Ashitaka screamed, only to be struck on the shin once again by Onigiri-Sensei.

"You are not aflame! Look again with the extra mirror." The Old man handed Ashitaka another mirror. The neko positioned it behind him and looked at the reflection in the first mirror. What he saw was other worldly and shocking. Somehow attached to his back, a circular stone plate covered in carvings lay on his back. The fire he saw earlier wasn't on him, but it lay on the edges of the disk, circling it with a soothing slowness.

"What in the name of…" Ashitaka started to say, but the Priestess suddenly walked through the door, a smile on her face. She dismissed the guards that were standing at the door and nodded at Onigiri-Sensei.

"It's good to see that you are awake, Ashitaka." She spoke "I'm sure that you are confused about the markings and the Reflector that rests on your back; all will be clear shortly." Ashitaka rolled his eyes; this otherworldly adventure was becoming more and more like the many manga he read.

_'All will be reviled shortly? How many times has that been said in manga?' _he thought to himself. "What exactly happened to me?" he asked, his voice glazed with a layer of annoyance.

"Walk with me." The Priestess began walking out of the room. Ashitaka looked down at Onigiri- Sensei, who gestured for him to follow her.

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While Ashitaka was still trying to remember what happened during the fight, half way across Shinshu Field, things were about to get worse, for him and for the whole land.

At the edge of the shore of the moon lake, two figures, dressed in cloaks that obscured their features. One towered at seven feet, and he carried a vicious Scythe. The other one, who was a foot and three fourths shorter, was obviously female as two rather large lumps pointed outward from the fabric of the cloak's front.

"Are you sure this is the right place Kotetsu?" the female said, her seductive voice dripping with annoyance. The larger male grunted before speaking.

"Do not question me." He growled "This is the place, I am sure of it." Both figures walked along the thin strip of land that reached out further into the lake that ended with a small statue that had a white vase resting at its base. The larger man, Kotetsu, chucked villainously. "Do the spirits really think they can fool us?" he said before grabbing his scythe and swinging it. The statue's top half slid off of the rest of the statue and fell to the ground. The air in front of the two figures shimmered, and then faded, revealing a long path, and the end of it, an island with a huge cave rested in the middle of the lake. Both of the cloaked figures walked along the path up to the entrance of the cave, which was covered by a clear purple barrier. Kotesu slashed the barrier with his scythe, causing it to shatter like glass. Walking into the cave they eventually came to a large open area that had a view of the sky.

"This is where we're supposed to resurrect that snake?" the female asked Kotetsu, her voice filled with disgust. "It's filthy!" She unsheathed a sword and cut several cobwebs away with a single slash.

"His corpse is still here, in case you forgot." Kotetsu snapped. They descended into the crater that took up the center of the room. And at the center of the crater, lay a gory site. Several decapitated serpent bodies lay splayed out in different directions, while the one that faced the entrance still had its head, but was neatly bisected along the spine.

"Eeshh, Susano really did a number on Orochi." The female said, doing her best to avoid the rotting guts that had spilled from the bisected head. "So what do you want me to do?" Kotetsu handed her a pile of paper slips.

"Place each one where the necks rest." Kotetsu said, before climbing up a small hill at the center of the room to the ruins of what appeared to be a large bell. The female sighed, and then she snapped her fingers. A moment later, eight baseball sized fireballs encircled her. They then spread out around her and slowly took the shape of foxes. The flames darkened, revealing a fox where each fireball had landed. A fox mask covered the face of each fox, but they all swiveled their heads and looked in each direction before sitting at attention to the person that had summoned them. The female handed each fox one of the paper slips that Kotetsu had given her and directed them to their respective positions.

"Let the revival begin!" Kotetsu shouted when the Tube Fox demons had finished placing the paper slips at the blood stumps of each neck and the bisected head. He began chanting in a dark language, and as he did, each slip of paper began to glow red, blue, green, purple, white, yellow, black and brown respectively.

"I command thee, dragon, return to this land and spread your darkness once again!" Kotetsu bellowed "O-RO-CHI! Rise, Lord Orochi!" And with that, Kotetsu slammed the bottom of his scythe into the ground. The whole cave shook wildly, and the ground cracked open around the corpse of the eight headed dragon before opening up and enveloping it just after Kotetsu leaped off. The whole cave continued to shake as the ground cracked open with a fissure, followed by the snarling of a fierce beast. Then out of the crevice, a floating rock came up out of the fissure, eight dragon heads flailing wildly were attached. At the center of the floating rock that made up the dragon's body, a large bell hung from a stone arch. The fierce evil dragon, Lord Orochi, had returned.

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"So let me get this straight, you're saying that this flaming stone disk." Ashitaka gestured to the stone disk on his back, "is the same Reflector that Amatarasu used, and that I'm most likely a vessel of her power?" He stared at Priestess Kyrie in disbelief with his arms spread out above his head. The Priestess nodded, and Ashitaka sighed before sitting back down.

"It's true," The Priestess said "Only one who has Amatarasu's power flowing through them could use her Devine Retribution reflector weapon." She gestured to the disk still attached to Ashitaka's back. Ashitaka was still bewildered at this news, and was about to say something when he heard a sudden noise. It was a loud whistling noise that caused him to gasp in pain and cover his ears, drawing stares from everyone in the room. Ishiro bounced up to Ashitaka.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The ponacle asked. Ashitaka growled in pain as he spoke.

"It's this noise, it's so damn loud I can barely hear myself think!" he gasped out. "Don't you guys hear it?" That's when Ashitaka opened his eyes and saw that no one else seemed to hear it. He grit his teeth as the whistling reached a high, then it stopped. He uncovered his ears and started panting.

"Are you okay man?" Ishiro asked. Ashitaka shook his head to clear out what remained of the ringing in his ears, but it still lingered.

"Some weird noise, I have no idea what it was." Ashitaka replied "It was like a train whistle went off right next to me." Ishiro frowned; he hopped up on Ashitaka's nose.

"But I didn't hear a thing. You sure you weren't hearing things?" The pint sized ponacle asked the much larger Neko. Ashitaka flicked Ishiro off of his nose with a grunt of irritation.

"This is all hunky-dory, but I need answers, and to find said answers I need to find Kimiri." He muttered, but the Priestess spoke up, apparently because Ashitaka hadn't muttered very quietly.

"You are looking for Kimiri?" Priestess Kyrie asked. "I know exactly where you can find her." She got up and walked over to a rack of scrolls. Ashitaka's cat ears perked up. He got up with a start.

"Where is she?!" Ashitaka asked urgently. The priestess handed him a scroll, which he accepted.

"She lives in Shinshu village, not to far from here. I have marked it's location on that map I have given you." She said as Ashitaka opened the scroll. Sure enough, there was a small red circle that indicated a village not too far from his current location.

"Have you actually met her?" Ashitaka then began asking a storm of questions, ranging from how big the village was to how Kimiri acted. After what seemed like an hour, Ashitaka finally bowed and left.

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Ishiro sat around in Ashitaka's hair as the duo walked away from the shrine. He looked over a tiny scroll that had pictures of a white wolf.

"Hey Ashi," the Ponacle asked. "You remember when that pretty priestess girl said something about you having Amatarasu's powers and skills, right?" Ashitaka though for a second, then spoke up.

"Yeah, I remember." The neko answered. "Why?" Ishiro jumped out of the forest that was Ashitaka's hair and onto his larger compatriot's hand.

"My father always raved about Amatarasu's power; he called it the Celestial Brush." The Ponacle began. "He mentioned something about ink, and about 13 brush gods." Ashitaka looked at Ishiro with interest, and then looked to the ink pot at his own hip. He then noticed that it was now filled to the brim with ink. Odd, it hadn't been that way when he had put it on his hip. Instinctively, his hand brushed by it. He then heard Ishiro's voice suddenly halt mid sentence. Ashitaka shifted his view away from the ink pot and gasped. The whole world surrounding him took on the color of canvas, nothing moved, nothing made a sound. Even the blue glow that surrounded Ishiro didn't glow. Reflexively he pulled his hand away, and the world shifted back to its original state in a flash.

"… this priestess with large melons." Ishiro finished, obviously oblivious to what happed. He then noticed Ashitaka's look of bewilderment. "Yeah, I don't believe it either, I mean, how can a woman have a rack that…" the Ponacle was cut off by Ashitaka.

"Did you see that?" the neko said, looking around wildly. Ishiro tilted his head.

"Come again?"

"The whole area, it just went the color of canvas when I touched this ink pot! Watch!" Ashitaka placed his hand over the ink pot, causing the canvas-world to spring up once again. He lifted his hand and the world reverted to normal once again. He looked down at Ishiro, who looked very shocked. "So? You saw it?!" Ishiro shook his head.

"I have no clue what you are talking about, but your eyes just went all freaky."

"Huh?" Ashitaka asked

"Your eyes! They were whiter than your fur and glowed like a fire fly!" the Ponacle bounced up and down on Ashitaka's hand. The neko's expression was filled with bewilderment. Placing his hand over the ink pot once more, he ran over to a nearby pond, and saw that Ishiro was right. The canvas color obscured the image a bit, but his eyes were as white as snow. Lifting his hand he covered his mouth to hold in a gasp of shock.

"WHA?!" Ishiro suddenly said. "How it Gekigami's name did we end up over here all of a sudden?!" Ashitaka then pieced it together, apparently only he could see the canvas-world. As his realized this, a sudden howl sounded, and Ashitaka realized that the sun had set.

"AH HELL!" Ishiro said. "We have to get to a sheltered area; else we're going to be swarmed by monsters!" Ashitaka nodded and ran to a nearby cave.

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How was that? Don't forget to review!


	7. I think we're here

Hey guys!

So Very sorry that I haven't uploaded another chapter in like two years, but school's a bitch like that. Anyway, this is my longest chapter yet, ELEVEN pages. Another reason why this took so long was that this is like the 16th revision. Anyway, if you guys review some more, I might feel more motivated to update quicker. Enjoy chapter 5!

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Ashitaka blew into the tiny fire that he had set up, causing the flames to flare up a tiny bit. Although small, the flame eventually began to light up the dark cave the neko was in. The fire cast shadows on the stone walls, undulating and twitching as the fire flickered. Sighing as the flames reached a preferable size after a few minuets had passed; Ashitaka leaned back and looked at the dark night sky dotted with white stars outside the mouth of the cave. It was beautiful; he had never seen so many stars in his whole life. The many lights from the city had always made it impossible to see the night sky, but now all the white furred neko could see was stars.

"Hey Ishiro," Ashitaka asked his friend, who had taken up residence in his white hair. "What's it like living here? In the country side I mean?" Tiny snores only answered him, indicating that his poncle friend was quite asleep. Ashitaka inhaled, the cool night air filling his nostrils with a pleasant scent. Standing up, the neko took a step outside to admire the cool night air and quiet. Whenever he went to sleep at his old home, a car would always pass by and wake him up. But here, it was quiet, only the sound of crickets and night creatures made noises. It was a symphony of chirps, wind blowing and the gentle running of water from a nearby river. Ashitaka sighed, he wished he could stay where he stood and listen to the noises of the night forever.

But, as always, misfortune seems to find him…

As the Neko listened to all of the surrounding sounds, he hadn't heard the trio of Imps that had snuck up on him. Two were all green, their skin as well as the kimonos they wore. They carried hallow bamboo shoots. The third was garbed in red, although its skin was a molted brown. On it's back rested a lyre that was twice as long as itself. They had crept so quietly, and Ashitaka was too focused on the night that he failed to noticed them… until the one garbed in red swung it's lyre at him, nailing the neko in the back. Shouting in pain, he landed on the ground in a heap, and then quickly rolled to avoid another blow from his attacker. Rolling onto his feet, Ashitaka got into a fighting stance. The first imp, one dressed in red that had hit him with the lyre, rushed him again, its musical instrument turned weapon pulled back into a baseball swing like motion.

"Take this!" Ashitaka cried out, lashing out with his right fist and punching the imp in the face. He then leaped at the other two and proceeded to punch them in the face, but was knocked away as they tacked him, crashing against the crimson breast plate he wore over his katasoe uwagi.

"Oi! Ashitaka! What are you doing?!" Ishiro, who had woken up, shouted, grabbing onto a nearby strand of Ashitaka's hair so that he wouldn't be sent flying away as the neko furiously swerved and rolled to evade the Imp's attacks. Ashitaka growled in pain as a dart from the green imp's bamboo tubes slashed his cheek, causing blood to well up and obscured the crimson markings on that cheek.

"WHAT IN HELL DO YOU THINK?!" he said, continuing to punch out the imps, catching one in the jaw with an uppercut. Ishiro only shouted louder as he held on for dear life.

"IDIOT! Use that reflector on your back!"

"WHY WOULD I USE THAT WHEN I CAN BREAK THEIR FACES WITH MY FISTS?!" the neko continued his merciless beatdown of the imps. However, it was not effective at all, and the red imp struck him with its lyre again, sending him flying. Ashitaka cried out as he was thrown against a small tree, snapping the 4 inch thick trunk. The imps then piled on top of him and began beating him furiously, their squawking cries of joy and murderous glee nearly covered up what Ashitaka said next.

"Get. Off. Of. ME!" the neko's cry suddenly sounded over the three imp's screeches and laughs. A bright light suddenly flashed from under the pile, and the imps were thrown back a few feet. Ashitaka stood where he had been piled on, but now the flaming reflector weapon Divine Retribution had moved from his back and onto his right forearm. Grinning like a madman, Ashitaka screamed a wordless battle cry and leaped back at the imps, who did the same. Ashitaka's arms were a blur of slashing motions, the reflector an extension of those slashes, as he attacked the imps. Divine Retribution struck each of the imps with loud smashing noises, like metal on metal, but those noises were barely audible over the Imp's pained screeches. The red one snuck up on Ashitaka, its lyre raised to strike him. But the neko swung his right arm back, causing the reflector weapon to catch the imp in the face, a lethal blow. The Imp let out a pained scream as it was flung backwards, and when it landed, it vanished in a shower of flower petals.

"Wha?" Ashitaka said at the sight, but, realizing that he was still in the middle of a fight, turned around to face the other imps. But they weren't there. He looked around frantically and saw the two green imps retreating to the west. Letting out a sigh, Ashitaka plopped to the ground, smiling. Then a sudden pin prick caused him to wince in pain.

"Ouch! What was that for!?" Ishiro had once again stabbed into Ashitaka's skin with his toothpick sized sword.

"You idiot! I told you demons are more active at night!" the Poncle yelled. "And you still walked out of the cave!" Ashitaka slapped down on his head, grabbing Ishiro and shutting him up.

'_Why am I always a magnet for misfortune?' _he asked himself, before walking back to the cave.

Meanwhile, inside the Moon cave, the two imps that had ambushed Ashitaka earlier cowered before a large eight headed shadow. The room that they were in was a large circular one, a gate stood near the southern wall of the cave as its entrance. Surrounding the large shadowed figure were eight empty pools, each connected by a narrow canal. The imps were trembling in fear and terror as they bowed their head to the ground. The shadow spoke to them in a very angered voice that sounded like rumbling thunder and many other bad things.

"I send you Imps on a simple mission; kill the one with the markings of Amatarasu." It said, "And you return to tell me that not only you failed to do so, but he killed one of you and then you two ran like cowards!" the imps coward at the roar.

"But Master Orochi!" the first green imp shouted, "He carried a divine instrument! We had to run or else we'd have been exorcized!" those were the last words that either imp spoke. Before the second imp could beg for mercy, the fire elemental head of Yamata-No-Orochi bathed them in flame, turning them to ash before they even had a chance to scream. When the flames died down, no noise permeated within the cave except Orochi's breathing. The eight headed serpent sighed, both in irritation and distress.

"He has Amatarasu's power. This complicates things." Orochi muttered, before his heads curled up around his body and he fell asleep.

Ahitaka yawned and stretched as he walked out of the cave, squinting both of his eyes as the sun shined on him. The rest of the night had been uneventful, and both Ashitaka and Ishiro had slept soundly. Yawning, Ishiro spoke up from within Ashitaka's hair.

"Morning Ashitaka, sleep well?" the Poncle asked, taking off his blue hat and scratching his head before putting it back on. Ashitaka nodded, and then pulled out the map Kyrie had given him. Except for the whole of Shinshu Field, it was mostly without detail, patches of green in the shape of the landmass. Looking closely he observed his location on the map; just a short walk west from the tree in the field's center, near the cliff walls that surrounded most of the area. According to the map, all he had to was follow the path a few feet ahead of him south until he reached a gap in between the cliffs that led to a small village. He closed the map before putting it inside the bag he had pulled it out of. Walking ahead a few paces, he came across a path that he had failed to notice last night. Looking southward, he caught a glimpse of Onigiri-Sensei's dojo on the plateau. Just down below its perch and to the right, he saw it, a gap in the cliffside.

"B-I-N-G-O." Ashitaka muttered before continuing down the path.

Ishiro sat cross legged in Ashitaka's hair, mumbling to himself. The white forest of the neko's hair left him out of the sun light, but it also trapped some heat, making it rather hot in there. He took of his beetle shaped hat and fanned himself; even this small bit of heat was enough to make him sweat. Reaching into his pack with his free hand, he pulled out a blank piece of parchment, and ink stone, and a brush. Setting the tiny paper down on Ashitaka's scalp, the poncle dipped his brush into the ink stone and began to draw. The wooden brush moved across the paper, leaving a trail of ink behind it. Ishiro ran the brush up, down, left and right, biting his tongue gently as he did. His hat lay next to him, forgotten as he focused on the picture he attempted to draw. The heat seemed to increase as sweat began to pour down his face, his hair already soaked with it. After what seemed like an hour, Ishiro leaned back to look at his work. His breath began to huff out in angered bursts, his teeth clenched, and his fists clenched and unclenched. With an angered shout, he grabbed the paper and crumpled it up before throwing it back into his travel pack. He poked his head out of Ashitaka's hair and sighed in relief as the cool wind blew by his face, lifting the heat from his face. He quickly then hopped out of Ashitaka's hair, and landed on the neko's shoulder. From there, he saw that Ashitaka had stooped and was looking around.

"I think we're here." The Neko said.

Ashitaka couldn't help but gape at the beauty, yet simplicity, of the village. As he cleared the gorge, more of the village opened up to him. Just a little further down the path was a river that cut through the village and emptied into the large lake that served as the village's second natural border. A bridge arching over it that served as a way to cross over to the other side. Right next to the river stood a house with a large water wheel, next to it stood a small rice paddy where stalks of rice plants grew. The smell that emanated from the building was a very thick and intoxicating scent, a scent that was even stronger to Ashitaka because of his cat-like nose.

"Whoa, that's some strong Sake brewing there." He said, before noticing the house to his right, the one that looked like a small dojo mixed with a house. Just behind it was a man who looked to be in his late 40's, although his balding head made him look far older. He hefted a large sword that glowed gold over his shoulder. The man seemed to be talking to a young child who looked about 10 years old, and held a wooden sword that was as big as him. On the other side of the stream, to the left of the bridge, an old woman was singing cheerfully, but was also muttering words of frustration as she cleaned clothes by hand. Picking up speed, he went to the center of the bridge, and crashed into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the person shouted, causing Ashitaka to flinch.

"My bad, didn't see you coming." Ashitaka replied as he got a good look at the guy he bumped into. By the look of his height, he seemed to be about Ashitaka's age. Ragged and greasy black hair rested on his head, looking like it had not been washed in a while. He wore a blue tunic and pants. For some odd reason, he held a little rope that acted like a leash for a dragonfly that fluttered around his head.

"Yeah whatever, just watch where you're going." The teen said, before looking behind him. "Come-on Hyabusa." As he said this, a brown dog barked before following the boy outside the village. Ashitaka shrugged before continuing his search.

It seemed as if Kimiri was always moving around the village, Ashitaka soon guessed. He had first found her house after seeing her name on the sign in front of a small hut that had a thatched roof and white stone walls, but there was a sign on the door that said "Currently out, will be back soon." Then, after asking a passerby if he knew where she had gone, he went over to the village elder's house, the home of a 'Mr. and Mrs. Orange'. Mr. Orange, a bald man with a long while beard and an orange perched atop his head, was in, and told Ashitaka that Kimiri had gone up to the Kohana tree just up at the mountain. The neko bowed.

"Thank you sir." He said, turning around to leave the house. The old man tilted his head as he saw the neko leave.

"He reminds me _very_ much of Shiranui… nah, he's a cat, not a wolf." The old man said to himself.

Before long, Ashitaka had made a quick dash up the path to the Kohana tree, taking the left path of a fork in the road towards the cliff where the huge tree stood. Soon, he could see the base of the tree, and at the huge gap in the roots, a crouching figure sat. Ashitaka instantly recognized the long, ruby red hair that belonged to Kimiri, and at once he picked up speed, going from a gentle jog to a full blown sprint. The wind rushed through his hair, causing Ishiro to yell out as he held on for dear life.

"Kimiri!" Ashitaka called out as he passed through the Shinto gate before him, but as he did, Kimiri faded away, and the whole area changed. This sudden change caught Ashitaka off guard, and he was sent sprawling, landing face first in the dirt. He lifted his head up and let out a hiss of pain. "Fffffffffffff- that hurt…" he said, before getting up and dusting himself off. The neko rubbed his nose, sorer than his feet after hitting the ground. He looked up and at once noticed something was off. First, he was sure that when he first came here, everything didn't have a faint greenish glow. The sky was also black as night, but no stars shone in the sky, and he was pretty sure that the gap at the base of the tree didn't originally have a giant glowing portal sitting there. Ashitaka would have been screaming in confusion and irritation right about now, but something about this place seemed so… ethereal. He turned around and looked back to the gate he had passed through.

"A Shinto spirit gate." Ishiro whistled, hopping out onto the cat-boy's shoulder. "Passing through them will lead to areas you can't normally access. Sometimes to secret paths, and some times to very spiritual places." Ashitaka let out a grunt of understanding.

"So what you're saying is that if you walk around it, you'll go to the area behind the gate?" he asked. Ishiro bounced in reply. Letting out a sigh, Ashitaka began walking back to the gate. It was so FUSTRATING. He was literally one step away from answers, and fate blocks him from getting them. Just as he was about to pass through the gate, however, a sudden violent force threw him back. Landing in a heap, Ashitaka didn't have time to even guess what happen when a sudden roar tore through the area. It was louder than anything he heard! Then the sky turned blood red and gale force winds blew with a vengeful force.

"Ashitaka! What the hell is going on?!" Ishiro shouted over the wind.

"I don't know!" the neko cried out as he tried to stand back up and walk. Getting back to his feet, he started walking towards the gate. His feet felt like stone, and felt like they were becoming heavier with each passing second. Looking down, he let out a horrified gasp. His feet WERE turning to stone, and so was the rest of his body! The stone slowly began climbing up his legs as Ashitaka panicked. He had no idea what the hell to do!

"HELP!" He shouted out as the petrifaction of his body seemed to speed up. Soon, he couldn't move forward because his legs were stone. "Crapcrapcrap!" Ashitaka said as the stone come up over his mouth, before he was silenced.

Everything went black…

Suddenly, a light shone. It shone brighter than anything seen before. There was also a very faint whirring noise. He strained to hear it, but couldn't. The whirring only got louder, followed by very faint frantic shouting. The light continued to brighten and…

Ashitaka fell to the ground as the stone that once contained him shattered, gasping for air. The Neko hacked and coughed as his lungs were filled with oxygen again. His tail twitched weakly. Letting out another ragged breath, Ashitaka slowly realized that his hearing seemed to be coming back, as slow and distorted voices slowly came into focus. The first thing he heard was what appeared to be Ishiro's voice.

"Speak to me Ashi! Tell me you're ALIVE, DAMNIT!" the Poncle shouted. Ashitaka answered by swatting his hand on top of Ishiro. Then another voice spoke up, obviously female.

"Are you all right O' Child of Amatarasu?" Ashitaka weakly looked up and saw a very beautiful woman who seemed to be floating in mid air. She wore a pink kimono, but that wasn't what was about it that got Ashitaka's attention. It was the hole in the front shaped like a peach, exposing the woman's cleavage. Her raven black hair consisted of two large bangs and what appeared to be a very short ponytail in the shape of a spiraling branch.

"I'm…*HACK* COUGH* fine…" Ashitaka muttered, struggling to his feet. His movements were sluggish, but he was able to stand up. "Wh-who are you?"

"I am the wood sprite, Sakuya." The lady spoke. "And the sole guardian of this village." Ishiro broke free of Ashitaka's hand and fell to the ground, then hopped back up.

"She's the one who freed you from your _stoned_ state." The Poncle said, before whispering to the side. "_Plus she's got a nice rack…_" Ashitaka only nodded, before speaking up again.

"So Ms… Sakuya, what the heck is going on here?" he said, gesturing to the landscape. Not only was the wind blowing violently and the sky was red, but not it looked like debris was being carried by the wind. Sakyua looked up at the tree before speaking again.

"It is a curse, set by the accursed demon..." she said, shivering. "It's not been ten years and this evil has already returned to the land…its name is Orochi." Almost as if it was on cue, the same roar Ashitaka heard earlier roared again.

* * *

If you noticed, the chapters are now being named by certain quotes in the chapter, ala TTGL.

Anyway, review, tell your friends about this fic and enjoy it!


	8. Quick Authors Note

Hey Folks!

Sorry the next chapter has been taking so long, me being lazy and busy and uninspired.

I'm posting this note as a little heads up though.

NO MORE CAMEOS!

None! Zip! Nadda!

I just realized how bad it might turn out, so I'm no longer going to take any.


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